Automatically dismountable roll



June 12, 1962 J. c. LAYTON E'T AL 3,038,598

A AUTOMATICALLY DISMOUNTABLE ROLL Filed April 1, 1960 INVENTORS J. 6. LA YTON, 72 JACK L. PER/211V 2 56.6 V By ATTOE United States Patent 3,038,598 AUTOMATICALLY DISMOUNTABLE ROLL J. C. Layton, La Habra, and Jack L. Perl-in, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Towlsaver, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Apr. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 19,407 Claims. (Cl. 206-58) This invention relates to an automatically dismountable roll of strip material which is adapted to be supported upon an appropriate supporting bearing and to be automatically dismounted therefrom when it has been consumed to a predetermined extent.

' Therefore, when the roll of strip material is mounted upon the aforesaid supporting hearing it will automatically fall from operative engagement with said supporting bearing upon the reduction of the amount of material on the roll to a predetermined extent to permit a new roll to take the place of the partially exhausted roll. Rolls of strip material such as that disclosed herein may be made of successive layers of paper, cloth or similar webs in strip form.

The invention has particular application to rolls of paper toweling adapted to be mounted in various types of dispensers for such toweling. Because of the incorporation in the roll of a bearing surface constituted by contiguous layers of the material from which the roll is formed, the roll can be supported, at least at one extremity, upon a bearing surface formed from the material itself and no auxiliary bearing surface, such as a core, or an opening in the roll of material need be provided.

Of course, if desired, bearing surfaces constituted by contiguous layers of the material itself can be incorporated in both extremities of the roll of material and engaged by correspondingly shaped supporting bearings incorporated in the dispenser for the material.

It is contemplated that the bearing surface may be provided upon one or both extremities of a roll of paper toweling either in the form of a protrusion or in the form of a receptacle and the bearing surface may be fabricated by die cutting or forming or by winding the roll so that the bearing surface is provided in the extremity of the roll. Of course, a receptacle can be cut in an extremity of the roll to define a bearing surface or wall adapted to be engaged by a supporting member.

Because of the fact that a roll of material fabricated in accordance with the teachings of the invention has a bearing surface constituted only by contiguous layers of the material from which the roll is fabricated, when the material of the roll is consumed to such an extent that said contiguous layers are also consumed, the bearing surface is eliminated and the roll of material automatically falls from the associated supporting bearing. This, in a paper towel dispenser, for example, provides an automatic indication to a custodian that a new roll should be installed and also eliminates the necessity for the removal of the partially exhausted roll by the custodian.

Reference is made hereby to co-pending application, Serial No. 21,538, filed April 11, 1960, and entitled Method of Automatically Dismounting Rolled Web Material, which discloses the method which may be practiced by the utilization of various types of roll constructions disclosed hereinbelow, and to co-pending application, Serial No. 19,363, filed April 1, 1960, and entitled Apparatus for Dispensing and Automatically Dismounting Rolls of Material, which relates to a dispensing mechanism for roll paper toweling embodying a supporting bearing and a co-operative bearing surface on a roll of paper toweling.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accom- 3,038,593 Patented June 12, 1962 panying drawing, which is for the purpose of illustration only and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical roll manufactured in accordance with the teachings of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the broken line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the roll of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the roll of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an alternative embodiment of the roll of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view of yet another alternative embodiment of the roll of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the roll of the invention.

Referring to the drawing and, particularly to FIGS. 1-2 thereof, I show a roll 10' constituted by successive layers of paper toweling 12. In the present embodiment of the invention the roll 10 has ben wound upon a hollow core 14 of cardboard and a bearing receptacle 16 has been formed in one extremity of the roll 10 by cutting away the paper adjacent the core 14 to define a bearing wall 18 constituted by contiguous layers of the paper toweling 12.

The bearing wall 18 is engageable by an appropriately shaped supporting bearing 20, as best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, and when the contiguous layers of paper toweling 12 have been consumed, the extremity of the roll 10, in which the bearing receptacle 16 has been formed, will be automatically dismounted from operative engagement with the bearing member 20 to permit a new roll of toweling to be installed in operative relationship with the bearing member 20.

Shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, is a roll 30 of paper toweling 32 which is wound about a core 34. A circular bearing recess 36 of V-shaped cross section is formed in the end of the roll 30 by means of a cutting operation or by die pressing the recess 36 in the extremity of the roll. A hearing wall 38 is thus provided which is constituted by contiguous layers of toweling 32 and which is adapted to be engaged by an appropriate supporting member until the consumption of the paper toweling 32 will eliminate the bearing wall or surface 38.

An alternative embodiment 0 of the roll of the invention is shown in FIG. 4 as having a bore 42 formed therein. The roll 40 includes a bearing receptacle 44 at one extremity thereof formed in the material from which the roll 40 is constituted, and a bearing projection 46 at the other extremity thereof formed from the material of which the roll is constituted, in the present embodiment, by successive layers of paper toweling 48. The bearing receptacle 44 provides a bearing wall or surface 50 which may be engaged by a suitable supporting member and the bearing projection 46 also provides a bearing wall or surface 52 which may be engaged by a somewhat differently shaped bearing member.

However, it will be noted that the bearing wall 50 of the bearing receptacle 44- will be eliminated long prior to the elimination of the bearing projection 46 and, therefore, the right-hand end of the roll 40 will be automatically dismounted before the left-hand end of said roll. The bearing receptacle 44 and projection 46 can be formed in the appropriate extremities of the roll by either die cutting, die forming or appropriate rolling of the roll 40.

The roll 60, of FIG. 5 of the drawings, is characterized by the fact that it is a solid roll, that is, one which is rolled without the use of a mandrel. Furthermore, the bearing recess 62 formed therein is more remote from the center of the roll than is the case in the previously discussed embodiments of the invention and, thus, the

3 roll 60 will drop downwardly after approximately only half of the roll has been consumed.

The roll 70 of FIG. 6 of the drawings is similar to the roll 60 in that it is a solid, Wound roll. However, the roll 70 incorporates a semi-circular bearing recess 72 in the center of the roll, which has a bearing wall 74 which, when consumed, will permit the roll 70 to fall from a cylindrically shaped bearing member which does not occupy the entire confines of the semi-circular recess 72. Of course, if a semi-circular bearing is inserted in the recess 72 the roll 70' will be supported until approximately the entire roll 70 has been consumed.

The roll 80 of paper toweling, shown in FIG. 7, is a solid, wound roll which has a circular bearing projection 82 formed thereupon by appropriate die cutting, die forming or rolling. The bearing surface 82 may be supported either by an external or internal bearing member and the consumption thereof will, of course, permit the roll 80 to be dismounted from the asociated bearing member.

There is thus provided by the invention a roll of strip material which is characterized by the fact that it can be automatically dismounted from an associated bearing member. This is attributable to the fact that the roll is supported on at least one extremity by a bearing surface constituted by the material of which the roll is formed and, thus, when the material constituting said bearing surface is consumed, the roll will automatically fall from a bearing member engaged upon said bearing surface.

We claim:

1. A roll of strip material having a core and a bearing formed in an end surface thereof providing a bearing wall constituted by adjacent layers of said material, said bearing wall encompassing said core being engageable by a bearing member to support said roll until the consumption of said strip material eliminates said bearing wall, said roll of strip material having a continuous bore defined by the innermost layer of paper and said bearing wall encompassing said bore and of greater diameter than said bore.

2. A roll of strip material having a core and a bearing receptacle formed in an end surface thereof and incorporating a bearing wall defined by adjacent layers of said strip material, said bearing wall encompassing said core and being of greater diameter than said core.

3. A roll of strip material having a circular bearing receptacle formed in an end surface thereof and defined by a continuous bearing Wall which is constituted by superimposed layers of said material, said bearing wall being engageable by a supporting member and rotatable relative to said supporting member, said roll having a centrally located bore defined by an innermost layer of said material and said bearing wall being of greater diameter than said bore and extending radially outwardly from said bore.

4. As an article of manufacture, a roll of strip material having a circular bearing wall formed thereupon in an end surface thereof and located adjacent the center of said roll, said circular bearing wall being constituted by superimposed circular layers of said material, said circular bearing wall being constituted by an annular protrusion of substantially triangular cross section projecting beyond the plane of said end surface.

5. As an article of manufacture, a roll of strip material having a circular recess formed in said material in an end surface of said roll, said circular recess being located adjacent and encompassing the center of said roll and having a bearing wall constituted by contiguous layers of said material, said bearing wall, when said roll is consurned to a point adjacent the center thereof, being eliminated by the consumption of said material, said bearing wall being angularly and outwardly oriented in a direction away from the center of said roll.

Hunt Oct. 20, 1942 Grondona July 31, 1945 

